Posted on 19th Aug 2009 @ 11:05 AM

 

 

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IPMS (UK) has been approached by Reddiplex Group (A group of building and display industry companies with an annual turnover of £20 million) for advice on a new modelling product they will soon be launching. Samples of the material and its use have been provided and were on display at the AGM and Salisbury Model Show and they were very well received. The cost of the products has not yet been fixed as costings have not been finally calculated and in any case, based on some preliminary advice from members through me there may some savings on the production cost. The present plans are for this product to be marketed solely via the Reddiplex website under the name Model Scenery.com. There should be no worries ordering this way from a very large well established group.

So far I have seen eight basic sheets of this material, and all so far are 3mm thick unless stated otherwise. These are plain (3mm and 1.5mm thick); Yorkshire Stone Flooring; Rustic Brick Wall; Windsor Slate Roof; Gothic Details; English Bond Brick (which does scale out at 1/72nd); and Cotswold Stone. There is also a plain beam 2cm x 20cm and an “L” angle also 20cm long and with 1cm arms. One of the exciting things about this product is that IPMS have been invited to give advice on these and any other products that might be of interest so we actually have a chance of determining what we would like to see and use. The group also make many different kinds of extruded shapes and I reckon some of these may be of interest to modellers so there may yet be more to come.

There is no particular scale quoted for these products but assuming a use by diorama builders the items on the Gothic Details sheets have doors that range from about 4’ to 11’ and 5’ Gothic windows. Other details include a section of portcullis.

The material looks like blackish rubber but that is about the only resemblance though it does flex easily. Unlike rubber it is extremely easy to cut with a craft knife because it is a “dead” material and does not grip the blade. It glues easily using Superglue. A very interesting property of the material is that it can be heated with a hairdryer and once warmed up it is pretty easy to impress tank tracks from a piece of polystyrene track or to make wheel ruts. Another interesting property of the material is that if warmed, bent and held in the bent position it will hold that shape once cooled. I have tried this and achieved a lovely looking half hull shape simply by heating a plain sheet and turning up the corner.

The Cotswold Stone pattern easily demonstrates the flexibility of the material. No dry stone wall maker would ever build a wall like this - unless blind drunk - but it shows what can be achieved with this material.

I hope John will find room for a few photos. If he does the half-timbered house also shows what can be done. This was made using flat sections and thin strips cut off to make the basic shape. Once complete the whole house was heated up then subjected to downward rotating pressure and held till cool. Hence the miraculous bowed wall sections.

How will this product develop? That could be up to you. Any suggestions or comments on the material itself and the sheets would be welcome, e.g. size and thickness. Also welcome are any ideas for additional patterns e.g. floorboards or wood sections based on the doors; alternative brick and tile patterns; any other comments at all. Please let me have your thoughts (my email address is on page 31) and make sure you state your name and membership number. The reason for this is that if Reddiplex have any questions on the comments or suggestions you raise I will know whom to contact. So here is a chance for IPMS members to influence what becomes available to them for modelling. We expect the firm to be displaying at Telford.

CASTLE KEEP

This was the first model. It is a fairly simple structure of mainly flat surfaces with just one curved section. This was created simply by bending the material and fixing with Superglue. The steps were created by simple sculpting of the material. Note too how the corners have been created by carving out the brick shapes. (This stuff cuts very easily with a craft knife and if can also be shaped using a grinding tool.) The dividing course of bricks is simply a sheet of plain material cut into brick shapes (Note the modeller forgot to do one side, but we are all human!). Window and door arches were cut from the detail sheet, fixed to the model and then cut through.

The steps leading down from the tower roof were created by cutting and fixing into a rectangular section made from the plain material. A hole was then cut into the roof and the step section glued into place.

 

TOWER GATE ENTRANCE WITH TWO BRIDGES

This was the second model. The side arches were made from the block sheet and then the block sheet was bent between two sections to create the tunnels. This did not prove to be very successful as the structure flexed too much. However, this was overcome by using one of the properties of the material. The tunnel roofs were heated up with a hairdryer and were then held in place and allowed to cool. Now the curve was retained in the material. A similar method was used to create the curved sidewalls to the ramps. Sheets were glued (using Superglue) back to back to create thicker walls with detail on both sides. Arrow slots were created by simply cutting through and then chamfering the sides. Arch details and the portcullis were simply cut from the detail sheet and glued on with Superglue.

JF Chapman

http://www.ipms-uk.co.uk/